Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sitting here at the Food Ranch just outside of Joe's Valley, Utah, I decided to give a little update of our current roadtrip. The biggest news so far has been the spree of sends from my little brother Giovanni. Here's the current tally before today:

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Nonperformance of something due, required, or expected. My life has been full of this as of late. I guess it's just the cycle of things. About a week or so before Nationals I felt a serious lack of motivation and desire towards climbing. It certainly showed when I fell seriously short of my expectations in a comp that I was definitely ready for. Gravity won. I lost. This theme has continued for the last 3 weeks. Throughout an entire roadtrip to Southern California, including a day of bouldering in Joshua Tree and countless energetic gym sessions, I have felt as though their were a lead weight attached to every part of my body. I couldn't shake them.

I am finally inspired to write a blog today because a few days ago I broke through to the other side. I traveled out to Boulder Canyon with my good friend Chris and managed to fall off sticking the lip of Free Range V13. This is big news for me because I have been extremely close to finishing this boulder for quite some time. However, it always manages to allude me in the most devilish of ways. If I get the first half of the boulder on lock down, the second half will feel impossible. Once I figure out the second half, the first half turns into an epic slip-fest. No joke, this has been going on through 4 months of continuous effort. Suprising since I did all the moves in 30 minutes my first time trying the problem. So this is it. I think this problem might be my escape from the vast hole I've been living in the last month. I just need to stick that lip and mantle out.

In other news. I'm leaving for Joe's Valley in a week and a half or so with the intention of finishing up some long-term projects and establishing some stuff of my own. Connor we're crossing the river this year! Maybe I'll find something tall and proud. Updates on that to come.

In the meantime, here's some eye candy from the last month:

Iron Resolution - Photo Courtesy of Susanica Tam

So, finally today, or I guess yesterday since it's past midnight now, I traveled back up to Boulder Canyon with P-Rob and polished off the second ascent (?) of Ty Landman's Trainspotting V12. It's a crack problem just to the left of Midnight Express V14. It consists of a couple setup moves off the start and then a hard stab into a flared opening in the crack. A couple of balancy footholdless moves later and you're standing on top of the boulder. Paul got extremely close to finishing Midnight Express and I'm sure you'll hear about his ascent of the boulder within the next week or so.

Just before leaving the area at the end of the day I decided to give an attempt on Free Range V13. First try I slipped off on the last move dyno. Third try I did the same and ripped a nice flapper on my right hand. As if this boulder hasn't taken enough blood. I think it's safe to say that I have this boulder on complete LOCKDOWN. Today it felt like V0, that is except for the last move which only feels V0 as an individual move. I hope to finish off this boulder by the end of next week. I need a clean slate for Joe's.

An Attempt On Free Range V13

Otherwise my next week will be filled with lots of routesetting as I will be setting for the SBS Finals this weekend. Come on down to The Spot and climb on some amazing plastic boulders.